According to the results, 15-year olds in the U.S. score in the middle of the developed world in reading and science, but lagged in math. The score hasn’t changed much since 2009 for Americans, however, other countries, like Ireland and Poland, pulled ahead, resulting in a lower performance for the U.S.

Additionally, students in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan and South Korea ranked highest in math, science, and reading. Finland, often viewed as an education utopia, slid behind in all subjects, but still outperformed the US.

The United States’ underperformance was particularly striking in math, where 29 countries or education systems had higher test scores. In science, students in 22 countries did better than Americans, and in reading, 19 countries performed better.

For example, just 9% of American 15-year-olds scored in the top two levels of proficiency in math, compared with an average of 13% in other industrialized nations and an astounding 55% in Shanghai, 40% in Singapore, and 17% in Germany and Poland.

While the stats are corroborated by other similar studies, critics mandate that a focus on standardized tests came at the expense of creativity. Others maintain that a baseline is imperative in improving overall performance nationwide.